Post by Corissa on Jul 1, 2015 15:16:49 GMT
Alternately titled: Why We Need to Reserve Room in the Sanctuary for a Nursing Mother's Room
Bottom Line: The Kids Church space is limited in such a way that growth will require using all available space for classrooms. Space for a nursing mother's room, then, needs to be reserved in the sanctuary.
A nursing mom's room is very important. Some moms are comfortable breastfeeding wherever they are, but some moms are only comfortable breastfeeding in a private location. Behind a curtain or partition did not feel securely private to me as a nursing mom. Curtains can be jostled and crawled under by kids. Partitions do not typically have a door, so require an open doorway. The best solution is an actual room with a door.
A Nursing Mom's room is typically located in or just off the sanctuary, or in/near the nursery. There are arguments to be made about why either location is generally preferable, but I suspect this will come down to the personal preference of a mom. I know that, as a breastfeeding mom visiting churches when Evan was an infant, I did not care about location so much as about the room being private, clean, & comfortable.
For our current situation, if it was easy to put the Nursing Mom's Room in the Kids Church area, I think most people would agree to do that. And, if we have less than 20% growth in Kids Church it will be possible to use part of the Kids Church area for a Nursing Mom's Room. However, at 20% growth the 3-and-under classrooms begin to be uncomfortably crowded unless we can use the potential Nursing Mom space as classroom space. (While the over 3 classrooms are not uncomfortably crowded at 20% growth, all rearrangements that shift space to the under-3s without adding some additional space cause some age group to become over-crowded.)
One suggestion someone might make is that we should just rent more rooms, rather than moving the Nursing Mom's room into the sanctuary. There are a couple of concerns with this:
(1) We are not currently paying for approximately 1/3 of the Kids Church space we will need to use. Before we add additional rooms to rent, we will have to start paying for the rooms we are currently using. And we have to keep in mind that any additional space we rent is likely to need significant safety and cosmetic investment to make it acceptable. I am not sure the cost to construct a room within the sanctuary, so maybe renting a room would be cheaper in the long run. But we can't assume that up front.
(2) The rest of the rooms currently available for rent are poorly situated for use at Kids Church classrooms or as a Nursing Mom's Room. I have looked at all of the space on the building diagram we were given that is listed as "Vacant." I spent hours trying different options for dividing kids between spaces, including taking out walls and creating entirely new spaces. There was no good solution that allowed for maximum growth capacity attendance, and that allowed a Nursing Mom's Room within the Kids Church space. (There was one solution that required cutting a new door into the hallway through a cinder-block wall, as well as demolishing an interior wall, but I do not count that as a "good" solution.)
Another suggestion I have heard is that we can create a space in the office/conference room for Nursing Moms.The concerns with this are:
(1) This would only work for 2 of the 3 stage locations. (The door to the office would be very near the stage if it is in the SE corner. The alternate route to the office -- walking entirely around the building to get to the other door, is not reasonable.)
(2) The Nursing Mom's room needs to have a comfortable chair, preferably a gliding rocker. Additionally, it should have space to change a baby's diaper. As stated before, it should be designed such that it feels *truly* private. These requirements mean that should really be a permanently set up area. I doubt that we can sacrifice the space in the office/conference room for a permanent Nursing Mom's Room. But if we can, that might be a good solution.
My proposal: For now, put the Nursing Mom Room in the Kids Church area. HOWEVER, any design to the sanctuary should allow room to build a true Nursing Mom's Room during Phase 2 of renovation. If we get to the point where we need to move the Nursing Mom's room, and we cannot afford construction of a true room, we will have to make do with a well designed and sturdy movable partition wall room.
Bottom Line: The Kids Church space is limited in such a way that growth will require using all available space for classrooms. Space for a nursing mother's room, then, needs to be reserved in the sanctuary.
A nursing mom's room is very important. Some moms are comfortable breastfeeding wherever they are, but some moms are only comfortable breastfeeding in a private location. Behind a curtain or partition did not feel securely private to me as a nursing mom. Curtains can be jostled and crawled under by kids. Partitions do not typically have a door, so require an open doorway. The best solution is an actual room with a door.
A Nursing Mom's room is typically located in or just off the sanctuary, or in/near the nursery. There are arguments to be made about why either location is generally preferable, but I suspect this will come down to the personal preference of a mom. I know that, as a breastfeeding mom visiting churches when Evan was an infant, I did not care about location so much as about the room being private, clean, & comfortable.
For our current situation, if it was easy to put the Nursing Mom's Room in the Kids Church area, I think most people would agree to do that. And, if we have less than 20% growth in Kids Church it will be possible to use part of the Kids Church area for a Nursing Mom's Room. However, at 20% growth the 3-and-under classrooms begin to be uncomfortably crowded unless we can use the potential Nursing Mom space as classroom space. (While the over 3 classrooms are not uncomfortably crowded at 20% growth, all rearrangements that shift space to the under-3s without adding some additional space cause some age group to become over-crowded.)
One suggestion someone might make is that we should just rent more rooms, rather than moving the Nursing Mom's room into the sanctuary. There are a couple of concerns with this:
(1) We are not currently paying for approximately 1/3 of the Kids Church space we will need to use. Before we add additional rooms to rent, we will have to start paying for the rooms we are currently using. And we have to keep in mind that any additional space we rent is likely to need significant safety and cosmetic investment to make it acceptable. I am not sure the cost to construct a room within the sanctuary, so maybe renting a room would be cheaper in the long run. But we can't assume that up front.
(2) The rest of the rooms currently available for rent are poorly situated for use at Kids Church classrooms or as a Nursing Mom's Room. I have looked at all of the space on the building diagram we were given that is listed as "Vacant." I spent hours trying different options for dividing kids between spaces, including taking out walls and creating entirely new spaces. There was no good solution that allowed for maximum growth capacity attendance, and that allowed a Nursing Mom's Room within the Kids Church space. (There was one solution that required cutting a new door into the hallway through a cinder-block wall, as well as demolishing an interior wall, but I do not count that as a "good" solution.)
Another suggestion I have heard is that we can create a space in the office/conference room for Nursing Moms.The concerns with this are:
(1) This would only work for 2 of the 3 stage locations. (The door to the office would be very near the stage if it is in the SE corner. The alternate route to the office -- walking entirely around the building to get to the other door, is not reasonable.)
(2) The Nursing Mom's room needs to have a comfortable chair, preferably a gliding rocker. Additionally, it should have space to change a baby's diaper. As stated before, it should be designed such that it feels *truly* private. These requirements mean that should really be a permanently set up area. I doubt that we can sacrifice the space in the office/conference room for a permanent Nursing Mom's Room. But if we can, that might be a good solution.
My proposal: For now, put the Nursing Mom Room in the Kids Church area. HOWEVER, any design to the sanctuary should allow room to build a true Nursing Mom's Room during Phase 2 of renovation. If we get to the point where we need to move the Nursing Mom's room, and we cannot afford construction of a true room, we will have to make do with a well designed and sturdy movable partition wall room.
I definitely would not want to feed my baby in there.